Thermostatic gas cock



oct. 1o, 195o J. H. GRAYSON 2,524,788

THERMOSTATIC GAS COCK- Fled Nov. 19, 1945 Patented ct. O, 1950 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE THERMosTA'rIo GAs cooK John H. Grayson, Monrovia,Calif., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Reconstruction FinanceCorporation, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of the United StatesApplication November 19, 1945, Serial N0. 629,592

to a new and improved Fig. 5 is a sectional detail on the line 5-5 ofFig. 4, and

Fig. 6 is a face view of the valve stem guide.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout these views.

Referring to Fig. 1, the thermostat in connection with which myinvention is illustrated comprises the usual elements 'l and 8, the onebeing non-expanding or having a low coefficient of exfrom thethermostatic valve. It is the principal lO pansion, and the other beingexpansible or havobject of my invention to combine the shut-oli ing acomparatively high coeiiicient of expansion, and thermostatic control ina single thermostatic as, for example, the movable element 1 may be gascock with a View to simplicity, economy, coma rod of Invar and the fixedelement 8 may be a pactness and vimproved performance. brass or coppertube` The tube 8 is threaded or Flat or disc valves are ordinarily usedin therl5 otherwise suitably xed in a plug 9 soldered or mostatic valvesand require extremely accurately otherwise suitably fixed in the hollowneck il) of flat valve seats to avoid gas leakage. In the a cast hollowvalve body or casing ll. The neck past, rolled brass valve seats, afterbeing lapped l0 is threaded into an adapter i2 which is solflat, werepressed or screwed into the cast body, dered or otherwise suitably fixedin a hole in the but it was found that despite these precautions wall I3of the tank of a gas-operated water quite a large percentage of valvesleaked. This heater, for example, insulation being indicated leakage Ihave traced to the distortion of the at i4 surrounding said tank andenclosed by an valve seatdue to the pressing or screwing thereof outerwall l5 of sheet metal. The rod l is adinto agas-tight position.Relapping of the valve justably vsecured at its outer end in the outerseats to correct the diiculty was impossible, beend of the tube 3, as bythreading into a plug I6 cause the valve seats in their assembledposition which in turn is soldered in the end of the tube 8. are belowthe surface of the body casting. It is, By virtue oi this connection, itis evident that thereforaanother important object of my inexpansion andcontraction of the tube results vention to provide the valve seat onlthe large in slight endwise movement of the rod l. It will end of arotary tapered plug type valve member 3o also be evident that atemperature adjustment which is notas subject to distortion a's thesmall is obtainable by turning the rod 'l with respect bushingspreviously used and which, furthermore, to the tube 8, thus threadingthe rod in or out is held in place by a yieldable spring means exwithrespect to the plug I6. A lever Vl is aterting justenough pressure toprevent gas leaktached to the projecting end of the rod 7i for the age.With this arrangement, I obtain not only temperature adjustment andoperates in a slot the elimination of a high percentage of rejections ISin the neck l0 moving a pointer t9 relative of thermostatic valves duet0 gas leakage but, to suitable graduations 2D on the outside of thebecause the rotary plug is rotatable manually to neck I0. The rod l, inits endwise movement, turn the gas on or off, avoid the need for aseptransmits movement to a plunger 2l that is slidarate shut-oli" valveand therefore obtain the 4o ably guided in the neck Il] and has anannular desired simplicity, economy and compactness, shoulder 22 in linecontact in a circle on the adalong with improved performance. jacentside of a dished convexo-concave snap ac- The invention is illustratedin the accompanytion disc 23, made of thin spring material such ingdrawing, in whichas spring bronze,'although any flexible spring Fig. 1is a longitudinal section through a ther- 45 material suitable for thepurpose may be emmostatic gas cock made in accordance with my ployed.Thisdisc 23 rests on another annular invention, this section being takenon the line shoulder 24 of larger diameter than the shoulder I-l of Fig.2; `22f`provided in the adjacent end of the`neck Ill Fig. 2 is an endView of said cock; next tothe body Il and is normally conveXed Fig. 3 isa cross-section on the line 3 3 of 50 toward the plungerZl so as topermit closing of Fig. l; i the valve 25 under pressure of its Vcoiledcom- Fig. 4 is a face view of the leaf spring for holdpression spring26. However, when the tube 8 ing the plug in assembled position and thecools and contracts, moving the rod 'l to the left, notched cam 'actionabutment ring cooperating pressure isY exerted on the disc 23 by theplunger therewith;

2I tending t0' flatten it until a dead-center or flat condition isreached, whereupon the slightest additional pressure causes the disc tosnap past dead-center and in so doing to open the valve 25 by operationof the push rod 21. All of the construction thus far described is old inthe art and no invention is claimed therein, excepting only insofar' asthese details cooperate with the other details in new combinations.

In accordance with my invention, the thermostatic gas cock body II hasan accurately machined tapered bore or seat 28 in which a tapered plugor cock 29 is rotatable with a close working gas-tight t, the same beingrotatable through 90 by means of a handle or lever 30 Working in a slot3| provided in the wall of the body I I. The body II has a hollow neck32 cast integral therewith into which the gas supply pipe 33 is threadedfor delivery of gas through a radial port 34 communicating with the bore28. An arcuate passage 35 in the periphery of the plug 29 extendsthrough 90, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3, and in the on position ofthe plug establishes communication between the port 34 and anotherradial port 36 in the body il, the latter port communicating with alongitudinal passage 31 establishing communication with a valve chamber38 in the body I I communicating with the large end of the bore 28 andclosed by the plug 39. This plug has a central recess therein in whichthe large end of the conical spring 25 for closing the thermostaticvalve 25 is seated. When the valve 25 is open and plug 29 is in the onposition, it is therefore clear that gas is delivered into the axialbore Iii! in the plug 29 and is conducted through an outlet pipe 4I tothe burner (not shown) for heating the water in the tank I3 in the usualway. A radial port 42 is provided in the plug 29 which in the "onposition of the plug communicates with one leg of an L-shaped passage 43provided in the body, the other leg of said passage communicating withthe pipe 4I. The intake end of the bore 49 is fiared, as indicated atd4, toward the valve seat 45 provided on the large end of the plug 29,and there is an annular groove 46 provided in the ared portion in whicha perforated valve stem guide disc 41 is inserted with a press t. Thisdisc has a central opening d8' receiving the stem 21 with an easyworking t. A bearing bushing i9 is pressed into a counter bore 50 in thesmall end of the plug 29 and receives the other end of the stem 21 withan easy working t. A leaf spring I is mounted on the projecting end ofthe bushing i9 and has its diametrically opposed arcuately curved endportions 52 slidable on a ring 53 that has a press t in the body I I andis seated on an annular shoulder 54 provided in the body around thesmall end of the bore 2B. The ring 53 is cut out at diametricallyopposed points, as indicated at 55 in Fig. 4, to permit passing the armsof the leaf spring 5I through these openings in assembling the plug 29in the bore 28, and there are inclined cam surfaces 56 provided ondiametrically opposite sides of the ring 53 adjacent the openings 55 onwhich the curved ends 52 of the spring 5I are arranged to ride when theplug 29 is turned toward the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig.4. The arms of the spring 5i are both exed in riding up these inclines56, thereby exerting the desired slight amount of spring pressure on theplug 29 vin an axial direction to hold the plug in assembled positionwith a gas-tight fit. It is only after the plug 29 has been ,turned tothe extent mentioned that-the lever 39 may be screwed into its hole 51in the plug 29, thus completing the assembling operation so far as theplug 29 is concerned. It is apparent in Fig. 4 that the spring 5I isfree to move through 9GD with respect to the ring 53 from the dottedline assembled position Without riding off thc fiat face 58 on the ring,so that the plug 29 may be turned from the on to the 01T position. Thevalve seat 45 is, of course, lapped for a gas-tight fit on the lappedfiat face 59'on the valve 25, and it goes without saying that the lightspring pressure exerted by the spring 5I is not enough to cause anydistortion of the plug and consequent distortion of the valve seat, and,therefore, the danger of gas leakage that was heretofore traceable tothe distortion of the Valve seat member, by reason of its being pressedor screwed in tightly, is definitely avoided. Furthermore, the i'actthat the valve seat member forms the shut-off cock eliminates thenecessity for a separate gas cock and hence a proportionate saving incost is realized and the general construction is simpliiedv and renderedfar more compact.

A sleeve valve 6I) is inserted' with a close working t in an enlargement6I of one leg of the L-shaped passage 43 and has a radial port 92communicating with the other leg of said passage. One end of the valve60 is closed, as indicated at 53, and has a screw driver slot 6Bprovided therein to permit turning the valve for permanentiy restrictingthe ilow of gas to the burner accordingly as the gas pressure in anyparticular locality may reduire. A plug 65 closes the hole 55 in thebody I I through which access may be had to the slot 513 and serves toseal the body against gas leakage at this point. If desired, the sleevevalve 59 may be omitted and ysuitable provision made for variablylimiting the opening movement of the plug 29, whereby to permanentlyrestrict the flow of gas to the'burner by means of the plug accordinglyas the gas pressure in a particular locality may require.

In operation, the plug 29 is arranged to be turned by means of the lever30 to on position when the burner of the gas appliance, such as a waterheater, is to be lighted. After that, assuming the sleeve valve 60 isprovided, it is adjusted accordingly as the gas pressure for theparticular installation may require, so that the burner operateseiiciently and with the right sized llame. The valve 25fwill, of course,remainopen until the water in the tank reaches a predeterminedtemperature, selected by the operator by adjustment of the lever I1. Thevalve 25 snaps to closed position and remains closed until water isdrawn from the tank and the inrush of cold water lowers the temperatureof the water in the tank to a predetermined extent, whereupon the valve25 snaps open. The burner has a pilot light supplied with gas from thesupply pipe 33 through the usual by-pass in the usual way. When thevalve 25 is closed, the gas pressure in the line is active against theback of the valve 25 and against the large end of the plug 29, so as toassist the plug-seating spring 5I and the valve-seating spring 25 andthereby further eliminate likelihoed of leakage past the valve or aroundthe plug.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects andadvantages of my invention. The appended claims have beendrawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim: l

1. A valvev of the character described ccmprising al valve body having ataperedbore, the small end of which opens into an enlarged substantiallycoaxial cylindrical bore, heat responsive means mounted onthe latter endof said body and including a movable element guided in said cylindricalbore, a tapered plug rotatable in the tapered bore, said body having aninlet and outlet communicating with ports in said plug in the onposition thereof, said plug being rotatable to an off position, a valveoperating stem operable by said heat responsive means extending axiallythrough and guided in said plug for endWise movement, said plug having apassage therein leading from one of its ports to the large end of theplug, a valve seat on said large end, a valve engageable with said seatand oper-- able by said stem, and a leaf spring mounted on' the smallend of said plug and extending transversely with respect thereto andslidably engaging with spring pressure an abutment adjacent the smallend of the tapered bore, whereby to hold said plug seated in saidtapered bore under spring pressure, said abutment comprising a iiat ringhaving an opening provided therein through which the end portion of saidleaf spring 'is movable in the insertion of the plug in the taperedbore, said ring having an inclined surface thereon next to the openingup which the end portion of said leaf spring is arranged to slide uponrotation of said plug in the assembling of the valve, whereby said leafspring is bowed and places the plug under spring pressure.

2. In a heat control, a casing having a tapered seat provided thereinwith which ports leading to and from passages provided in the casingcommunicate intermediate the ends of said seat, a tapered cut-01T cockhaving a close working nt in said seat and having its large endprotruding from the seat into a valve chamber provided in said casingWith which one of the aforesaid passages communicates, the large end ofsaid cock being provided With an accurately formed, flat, circular seatnormal to the axis of rotation of said cock and spaced from the wall ofsaid valve 6 chamber, said cock having an axially extending passageprovided therein communicating with a radial port provided in the cockadapted to register with one of the aforesaid ports in said cas ing, alight spring means connected to the small end of said cock to hold itseated, manually operable means connected to said cock to turn the samefrom one position to another, a valve push rod guided axially of saidcock, an over-center snap action spring disk mounted peripherally in lafixed, spaced, coaxial relationship to the small end of said cock andabutting the adjacent end of said push rod to transmit endwise movementthereto upon snap-action of the disk, means to l cause the disk to snapover center in response to a predetermined change in temperature, avalve disk in the valve chamber carried on the adjacent end of said pushrod and arranged to have a close gas-tight t on the flat seat on thelarge end of said cock, and a light spring means urging said valve disktoward said seat.

JOHN H. GRAYSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are o1 record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

